JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Despite playing what many consider the NFL’s most diva position, Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon has an aversion to the spotlight. Generally quiet and shy, he says it would make him “very happy” to never do a media interview, no matter how much success the high-profile rookie has in America’s most popular sport.

So five weeks after the Jaguars made him the No. 5 overall pick, the last thing Blackmon wanted was to be sitting solemnly at a packed news conference to explain being arrested on an aggravated DUI charge. He registered a blood alcohol level of .24 and .26, three times the legal limit in his native Oklahoma.

Just as embarrassing, he was forced to sit there as coach Mike Mularkey and general manager Gene Smith publicly admonished him for his actions. Seven weeks later, Blackmon pleaded guilty to the charge and avoided jail time. It was a painful way to begin an NFL career.

“I grow up from everything, stuff happens,” said Blackmon. “If it doesn’t kill you, it does make you stronger. Personally, I know it’s not the end of the world. You got to try and use it to your advantage, get better and learn from it, make things better.”

Things didn’t get better. Blackmon, drafted with the expectation of providing an immediate upgrade to an awful receiving corps, struggled in the first half of the season. He averaged only three catches for 28 yards per game, which coincided with second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert also making only modest progress.

While second-year receiver Cecil Shorts has surprisingly blossomed into the team MVP, a patient Blackmon impressed Mularkey by not getting discouraged over his pedestrian numbers. For weeks, the Jaguars’ first-year coach kept insisting Blackmon’s work ethic and practice habits would lead to a breakthrough.

It finally came in the Jaguars’ toughest matchup, a road game against the Texans’ stingy defense. When Gabbert was forced to exit after the first series with a shoulder/forearm injury, which has since put him on injured reserve, Chad Henne took over and allowed Blackmon to instantly flourish.

Blackmon made seven catches for 236 yards and a touchdown on Houston, about doubling his production for the entire season to that point. Though Blackmon downplayed the monster game, which Jacksonville lost 43-37 in overtime, the Jaguars were ecstatic because they kept waiting for evidence to validate him being a top-five pick.

“Confidence-wise, [the 236-yard receiving day] didn’t do anything because I’m always confident in myself,” said Blackmon. “I guess it proved things more for other people than it did for me.”

Tied for the NFL’s worst record at 2-10, the Jaguars will likely have significant roster turnover after this season. Smith's future appears to be in jeopardy, and there’s no telling what owner Shad Khan might do with Mularkey. The Jaguars have only a few select players to build around, so Blackmon’s continued development is critical to improving the No. 31-ranked offense.

If nothing else, Blackmon, second only to the Colts' T.Y. Hilton in rookie receiving yards with 557, has convinced management that he can overcome an ugly off-the-field transgression.

“I’m proud of the way he’s handled it,” said Mularkey. “All eyes are on him, everywhere he goes, everything he does. How does he respond? That was the message he had to send by his actions. There was no other way to say, ‘I’ve cleaned up my act.’

“He had to understand he made a big mistake, let a lot of people down. The only way he can gain trust back from all of us is to get his act straightened. I think he’s done that.”

Henne says the timing of Blackmon’s DUI, when he was just beginning to form relationships during organized team activities, made it harder to regain trust from the locker room.

“Any [off-the-field] circumstance at that stage as a rookie, everybody’s embarrassed,” Henne said. “Especially [Blackmon] coming to the locker room and facing your peers. Everybody’s kind of looking at you. I think he kind of brushed [the DUI] off and said, ‘I need to switch my life up, I need to change.’ It affected him in a positive way.”

On the field, Blackmon had to adjust to tighter coverages and not having his way with NFL secondaries. The former Oklahoma State star relies on his physique (6-1, 207), route-running and strong hands more than speed to win matchups.

Veteran guard Uche Nwaneri thinks the Blackmon-Shorts combo is possibly the biggest point of light in the Jaguars’ dark season.

“I see Justin and Cecil competing with each other on the field, like a game within a game, to see who can put up the better numbers,” Nwaneri said. “I think they’re having fun and enjoying it.”

Blackmon was determined to not let the DUI setback keep him from being a productive rookie. The Jaguars had terrible results from their three previous first-round draft picks at receiver. R.J. Soward (2000), Reggie Williams (2004) and Matt Jones (2006) were all out of the league within five years.

The only way Blackmon can avoid that path is to make sure the demons away from football are held in check. If that happens, then the two-time Biletnikoff Award winner has a chance to be a star again. Even if he dislikes the attention that comes with it.

“I don’t need the spotlight to know I’m doing things right,” he said. “I don’t need the spotlight to make me feel successful or anything. As long as my family knows who I am, my friends and my teammates. ... If they know I’m out here working hard every day, that’s all that matters.”